


Nightmares (2003)

by lucasquinn



Series: Sharing a World [5]
Category: Primeval, Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Gen, dragon!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-29
Updated: 2013-10-29
Packaged: 2017-12-30 20:44:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1023182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucasquinn/pseuds/lucasquinn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Years later the pain is still there but friends can make a difference.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nightmares (2003)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a big jump into the AU world. Primeval but actually set in the future of the Temeraire Universe. There are still anomalies, there's still a team and there is even a research centre (yet unnamed). There has also been a slight twist in evolution somewhere along the line and one more sentient species shares the Earth with humans, dragons. Thanks to fredbassett all fics so far posted have been betaed.
> 
> One last thing, I might not have mentioned it in the intro but the number next to the title is the year the story takes place in since I tend to jump around in the timeline with this.
> 
> Let the slash action begin :)

Captain Tom Ryan woke up with a low startled cry, and was on his feet in a moment. His heart pounded like he had just run a marathon as he looked around wildly in the near-complete darkness of the small unfamiliar room. The nightmare still gripped him so tightly that he was about to look for his weapon, Chandra’s name a croaked whisper on his lips, when the bedside table light switched on and a tussled dark head poked out from the duvet.

“He’s outside sleeping soundly with the other dragons. Relax, it was just a fucking nightmare.” Voice still hoarse from sleep but eyes sharp and knowing, Captain Jon Lyle eyed the other man the same way he would have looked at an unexploded bomb.

Finally shaking himself free of the last lingering remains of the dream, Ryan slumped back down on the bed, wiping cold sweat off his face with slightly shaking hands. “Sorry I woke you.” He grunted softly.

Lyle stretched out before rolling onto his side and propping his head up. Clear hazel eyes watched the other Captain intently before he spoke, “The Balkans again?” Ryan nodded in response but didn’t turn, eyes fixed on the ceiling as he tried to chase the images of twisted bodies, burning buildings and a chained down, distraught dragon out of his mind.

Lyle’s hand tightened briefly on his still clammy shoulder and Ryan barely managed not to flinch. “Go see Chandra. It’s not too cold and you can take the spare duvet I used when Ghosty had a cold last month. You know there’s no way you’re going to catch another ounce of sleep otherwise.”

The other man gave a soft dry chuckle and ran one hand over his eyes for a moment. “I probably won’t be able to sleep much down there either.”

Lyle shrugged. “Maybe, but it’ll make you feel better.” He didn’t need to add that none of the soldiers seemed to have nightmares when they slept close to their dragons. “And this way you won’t keep me up too,” the dark haired officer added with a smile.

With a soft chuckle, Ryan heaved himself out of bed and scanned the floor for his clothes amidst the mess from the previous evening. “This place it’s a fucking wreck, mate, do you see my briefs anywhere?”

Lyle’s head had already disappeared back under the duvet, the reply muffled by the thick layer. The information did prove correct, though, as Ryan pulled his underwear from behind the other Captain’s couch and finished getting dressed.

“Spare duvet’s in the cupboard by the door.” Lyle shouted from the bedroom, making Ryan smile. Things between Jon and him might just be casual but they had been friends for years, since well before either of them had been a Captain. They sincerely cared for each other and understood the responsibilities that came with the position like no other lover could.

“See you at breakfast, Jon.”

The reply that came from under the weight of the heavy duvet was unintelligible but Ryan was already heading down the stairs of the Hereford Covert and through the tunnel connecting the officers’ accommodations with the dragon quarters.

Lights flickered as he followed the long underground corridor connecting the main buildings to the artificial hill that housed the majority of the dragons stationed at the base. The few heavyweights the SAS used mostly for transport had a separate set of older, pavilion-like dwellings that dated back at least a century and a half, from the time the Covert had belonged to the Aerial Corps, but the lightweights had smaller rooms within the hill.

The set up had been arranged when the SAS was first created during the second Great War. Even though the Corps had long since arranged indoor dens for their service dragons, the increased number of troops due to the war had meant a good number of them were sleeping in the old clearings surrounding the Coverts.

German acid spitters had quickly taken advantage of the situation and using captured French Fleur-de-Nuits as guides, had attacked the overcrowded Coverts in the middle of the night. In the span of a few days, over thirty dragons had been lost. The burrowed dens had resolved the problem and even though sometimes three or four dragons were stuffed in one lair at a time at, least they had been safe. Nowadays, each dragon had his or her own den, even though the more gregarious ones still slept curled in familiar heaps of wings and mottled hides.

Ryan had barely stepped past the doorway into the deep darkness of Chandra’s den when one large eyelid slid open to reveal a bright, milky-white eye. The dragon didn’t say anything, simply moved his forelegs to create a small nest against his chest for the soldier and curled comfortably around him once Ryan was settled.

As expected sleep felt just as elusive as it would have been in Lyle’s bed but the steady thumping of Chandra’s heart against his cheek chased the last remains of the dream from his mind, helping him relax like nothing else could.

“They’d be proud of both of us, you know?” The dragon’s words echoed softly in the large room.

Ryan didn’t trust his voice and simply nodded, knowing Chandra’s keen eyes would see it even in the darkness that surrounded them. The cold breeze coming from the open mouth of the den brushed his face, but his body was toasty warm between Jon’s duvet and Chandra’s dry heat.

The pale pink light of first dawn was starting to colour the night sky by the time sleep finally overtook him again, but this time his dreams were only filled with wide clear skies and green leathery wings.


End file.
